Completed insert set – 2013 Topps Heritage News Flashbacks

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This is one of the “standard” insert sets in 2013 Topps Heritage, though this one has (for the most part) nothing to do with baseball – it honors the 1964 “year in the world”. Topps creates this set every year with Heritage.

Info about the set:

Set description: “World news moments from 1964.”

The set has a white border with the News Flashback set name at the top and the name of the featured news story at the bottom.

Set composition: 10 cards, 1:12 odds (2013 Topps Heritage)

Hall of Famers: There aren’t any baseball players in this year’s version.

How I put the set together:

4 cards from the 2 hobby boxes I bought

2 cards from trades

4 cards from the NSCC (the National)

Thoughts on the set: They’ve done this each year for Heritage – and I think it’s a good idea. The point of Heritage is to honor a past Topps set – and having an insert set that also shows what happened in the world is great!

The thing I’d change – are the same as last year’s set. First, I’d number the cards in chronological order – this alphabetizing crap is absurd. I hate it. Also, there are some other things that could have gone in this set – though I think they did a pretty good job with the content. Things Topps could have considered:

They could have done a little bit more on the Beatles – in one glorious week in April the group occupied all top 5 spots on the Billboard Hot 100. At the time, Elvis Presley was the only other artist with the top 2 songs at a given point.

I’ve got to admit – this was fewer than previous years, so Topps did a good job here.

Card that completed my set: #NF-TB – The Beatles

One of 4 cards purchased at the National

Highest book value: #NF-TB – The Beatles

Best card (my opinion): #NF-WF – The World’s Fair

I love the picture of the giant globe in Flushing Meadows on the front of this card.

As I did last year – I thought it would be fun to take a look at each of these cards and what they represent.

NF-CRA – Civil Rights Act of 1964: With Martin Luther King on hand to witness, President Lyndon Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act on July 2, outlawing discrimination against ethnic, racial and religious minorities and women – a dramatic step in the cause of human rights in America.

NF-FM – Ford Mustang: The term muscle car invaded the lexicon of American auto enthusiasts when the first Mustang rolled off the Ford assembly line on March 9, 1964. More than 22,000 coupes and convertibles were sold that day, at a starting price of less than $2,500.

NF-J – Jeopardy!: Classic American game shows for $200 pleas. Jeopardy! debuted on NBC on March 30, 1964, with Art Fleming as host. Merv Griffin’s brainchild has gone on to quiz viewers for nearly a half-century, with Alex Trebek hosting since 1984.

NF-LBJ – LBJ routs Goldwater in 1964 election: Garnering more than 60% of the popular vote, President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated challenger Barry Goldwater on November 3, 1964 in one of the most lopsided wins in U.S. history. Johnson carried 44 states to turn back the Republican senator.

NF-MLK – Peace Prize to a young Dr. King: At 35, Martin Luther King became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize when he was honored in Oslo, Norway on October 14, 1964. Dr. King vowed to donate every penny of his $54,123 prize toward his mission of achieving Civil Rights through non-violence.

NF-MP – Mary Poppins soars into theaters: Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins became an immediate hit upon its August 27, 1964 Hollywood premiere. Based on the books by P.L. Travers, the musical about Britain’s lovable nanny went on to become Disney’s biggest moneymaker and winner of 5 Academy Awards.

NF-RS – The Rolling Stones: When Decca Records released the Rolling Stones on April 16, 1964, no one could have imagined the staying power of the British band. Their LP debut soared to the top of the UK charts and was certified gold in the U.S. It featured the single “Not Fade Away”.

NF-SP – Sidney Poitier breaks Academy’s “Color Line”: Having already won acclaim for his work in several controversial films, Sidney Poitier made a mainstream breakthrough on April 13, 1964. His portrayal of Homer Smith in Lilies of the Field made him the first African-American to win a Best Actor Oscar.

(Note: Topps actually has the wrong date on the back – they have a typo in two places saying the awards were in 1963).

NF-TB – The Beatles: Some 73 million people saw the Beatles perform live on American TV for the first time on February 9, 1964 the Ed Sullivan Show. The “youngsters from Liverpool”, staging a pop music revolution, had fans screeching from the first note of All My Lovin’.

NF-WF – 1964 World’s Fair: The New York World’s Fair began the first of two 6-month runs on April 22, 1964 at Flushing Meadows. More than 50 million – a record for international expositions – enjoyed the festivities, themed “Man in a shrinking globe in an expanding universe”.